Sermon and Worship Resources

Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on

Showing 251 to 275 of 4938 results

251. One to Take the Place of Jesus

John 14:15-31

Sermon

Maxie Dunnam

Introduction to Scripture: In Chapters 14, 15, and 16 of John’s Gospel, there are telling and descriptive words of Jesus about the Holy Spirit. Since this is Pentecost Sunday, the occasion on our Christian calendar when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church, I’m again leaping ahead in my preaching through this Gospel to consider these power-packed words of John concerning the nature and ministry of the Holy Spirit. In the Sermon, I’ll refer to a number of these words, but for ...

252. The Invitation

Isaiah 55:1-9

Sermon

Charley Reeb

I don’t know about you, but I love receiving invitations. They make me feel special because they are deliberate and have me specifically in mind when sent. Now, sometimes invitations can be disappointing, especially when they have a hidden catch like, “Come to the wedding, but don’t forget a gift,” or “Come on vacation with us and maybe you will want to buy a time share.” Invitations quickly lose their appeal when there is an agenda hidden behind them. But generally speaking, receiving an invitation means ...

253. Death In The Midst Of Birth

1 Corinthians 15:12-34

Eulogy

Barbara G. Schmitz

Canticle: Nunc Dimittis There is probably no more difficult a time to mourn the loss of a loved one and join in the burial prayers than this. The twelve days of Christmas are for celebration, festivity, lightheartedness, merriment; a time to celebrate birth and God's love in sending Jesus to us. But for us this year, the twelve days of Christmas mean sorrow, loss, grief, and death. In the season of birth, we are in the season of death. I'd like to share two personal memories with you, because they both ...

254. Conflict and Hope: One in the Spirit

Philippians 1:12-30

Sermon

Gregory J. Johanson

Conflict has not always been accepted or welcomed within the church even though it is a reality. WILLIAM OGLESBY, JR. (see biographical note preceding The Struggle of Faith) deals with Paul’s concept of conflict "worthy of the gospel" in his devotional message Conflict and Hope: One in the Spirit. It was originally prepared for a study group which was wrestling with the matter of conflict and unity. It was intended to show that conflict can lead to growth and greater unity in life, and that the issue is ...

255. Who's The Blind One Around Here?

John 9:1-12

Sermon

King Duncan

While he was a missionary in Africa in 1968, William Pruitt had an unusual experience. After a long, exhausting day he returned to a little hideaway house he'd built years before. He was exhausted when he reached the house and turned in for a good night's sleep. The next morning he awoke and "thanked God for another day of life." He prayed that God would watch over him. Then he checked a small engine he had in the storage room. He hadn't been to the hideaway for some time and wanted to see if the engine ...

256. One of the Least

Illustration

Jon Johnston

Ted Stallard undoubtedly qualifies as the one of "the least." Turned off by school. Very sloppy in appearance. Expressionless. Unattractive. Even his teacher, Miss Thompson, enjoyed bearing down her red pen as she placed Xs beside his many wrong answers. If only she had studied his records more carefully. They read: 1st grade: Ted shows promise with his work and attitude, but (has) poor home situation. 2nd grade: Ted could do better. Mother seriously ill. Receives little help from home. 3rd grade: Ted is ...

257. Dying To Live

Isaiah 43:16-21

Sermon

Charley Reeb

In his book The Mustard Seed Conspiracy, Tom Sine shares the story of his parents’ friends and their love for gathering wild mushrooms. One weekend this couple came home with several baskets of mushrooms. Realizing the impossibility of being able to consume all the mushrooms by themselves, they decided to invite others over to their house for a mushroom party. The turn-out was terrific, and they had a wonderful time eating mushroom crepes, omelets, and soufflés. They ate until they could not eat another ...

258. When One Is Better Than Many

2 Kings 13:10-25

Sermon

Keith Hammer

Recently I heard a radio commercial by a well-known travel service. In the ad a neighbor asks the man in the family if he is moving when he sees him get in a large flatbed truck with a tow truck on the back. No, the man replies, they are just going on a vacation and his wife is afraid of breakdowns so they are bringing their own tow truck along. Then the neighbor asks whom the uniformed man is standing near the truck. The man says that he is Bill, the security guard, who they are taking along to guard ...

259. Wedding: All in One Sentence

John 2:1-11

Sermon Aid

Raymond Gibson

The opening sentence of The Order for the Service of Marriage is one of the most starkly beautiful in the English language: Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the presence of these witnesses, to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony; which is an honorable estate, instituted of God, and signifying unto us the mystical union which exists between Christ and his Church; which holy estate Christ adorned and beautified with his presence in Cana of Galilee ...

260. One Should Embrace Wisdom and Avoid Folly

Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:20

One Volume

Gary M. Burge

9:11–10:20 Review · If one understands “his hour” and “evil times” (literally “his time,” “bad time”) in 9:12 as referring to death (as in 7:17), then one can view 9:11–12 as the conclusion of the discourse on death. It is preferable, however, to view these verses as the introduction to the following section on the benefits of wisdom in contrast with folly. This chapter strongly resembles the book of Proverbs in both form and content and is more loosely organized than the rest of Ecclesiastes. 9:11–10:1 · ...

261. One Act At Time

Illustration

Robert P. Dugan, Jr.

The mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, was addressing the final breakfast meeting of NAE's Federal Seminar for Christian collegians. Her comments were forceful and on target. Suddenly she shifted gears: "How many Polish people..." she began. For a split second people got a little nervous. She wouldn't be about to tell an ethnic joke, would she? Then she completed the question: "How many Polish people does it take to turn the world around?" Pause. "One, if his name is Lech Walesa." Ahhh! What a beautiful ...

262. Alleluia, He Is Risen!

Matthew 25:1-13

Eulogy

Barbara G. Schmitz

Canticle: Christ Is Risen or Pascha Nostrum Music: He Is Risen, He Is Risen The liturgy for the dead, the Burial Office, for which we have come here today, is an Easter liturgy. And since we are in the midst of the Great Fifty Days of the Easter season, it is doubly an Easter liturgy. Therefore, we call today a celebration: a celebration of Jesus' resurrection, and the celebration of the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life for those who trust in him. Early in the nineteenth century, ...

263. Jesus' Public Opinion Poll

Matthew 16:13-20

Children's Sermon

Wesley T. Runk

Object: A public opinion poll. Good morning, boys and girls. Today we are going to pretend that we are very grown up people and that I am a news reporter who is trying to get some very important information. I will ask you some questions and I will then write down your answers for the newspaper. It is very important that you tell me exactly how you feel. Here is my first question. "Do you think that the President of the United States is doing a good job?" (Let them answer yes or no.) Second question, "Do ...

264. Gave Her One Talent To God

Matthew 25:14-30

Illustration

Mark Adams

Bill Wilson pastors an inner city church in New York City. His mission field is a very violent place. He himself has been stabbed twice as he ministered to the people of the community surrounding the church. Once a Puerto Rican woman became involved in the church and was led to Christ. After her conversion she came to Pastor Wilson and said, "I want to do something to help with the church's ministry." He asked her what her talents were and she could think of nothing---she couldn't even speak English---but ...

265. One Breathwork, Many Bodyworks

Acts 2:1-21

Sermon

Leonard Sweet

The world is becoming more global while at the same time more tribal. Pentecost gives us the key to living in a world that is becoming more different and more alike at the same time. We live in a time when our horizons are both expanding and contracting. Never before has it been so easy to be in direct contact with people from all over the globe. Uplinks, downlinks, e-mail, tele-conferences, Internet, bulletin boards all these various electronic pit stops (and sometimes potholes) on the information highway ...

266. Two Are Better Than One

Illustration

Walter Wangerin, Jr.

Marriage is not romanticized in the creation account. Its ideal purpose is not one of sweet feeling, tender words, poetical affections or physical satisfactions not "love" as the world defines love in all its nasal songs and its popular shallow stories. Marriage is meant to be flatly practical. One human alone is help-LESS, unable. But "Two are better than one," says Ecclesiastes, "Because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift the other." Marriage makes the job of survival ...

267. A Living Witness

Acts 9:32-43

Sermon

Rodney Thomas Smothe

Miracles don't really happen anymore, do they? Our text today would certainly suggest that miracles were once common in the religious community. Today, when we hear people use the word miracles we become suspicious and doubt creeps in. Our text today not only addresses the subject of miracles, but suggests that many miracles take place in the ordinary events of our daily lives. Our text today would make a perfect made-for-television movie. There's a story line that involves the larger community; there is a ...

268. Yet I Will Rejoice

Habakkuk 3:1-19

Eulogy

Barbara G. Schmitz

A couple of years ago on a cold, bleak day, I got a phone call from a woman who asked if I was the pastor. "Yes," I said, "what can I do for you?" "Well," she said, "there has been a death." She went on to tell me that her dog, Pepper, had accidentally gotten out of the fenced-in back yard and had been killed by a car. Her children were very upset. She was upset for them, because they were foster care children, and losing a dog brought up all those feelings of abandonment that these children had already ...

269. A Time To Die

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

Eulogy

Barbara G. Schmitz

For everything there is a season,and a time for every matter under heaven:a time to be born, and a time to die. These opening lines from the book of Ecclesiastes say that there is a season for everything. There is a time to be born. There is a time to die. Such a time it is, for we are in the season of Lent. And if ever there is a time that the Christian faith dwells on death, practices it, even celebrates it, surely it is this time of Lent. Lent began on Ash Wednesday with those solemn words of death: " ...

270. Turning Up the Religious Machinery

Illustration

William G. Carter

Eugene Peterson claims in one of his books: "For a long time I have been convinced that I could take a person with a high school education, give him or her a six-month trade school training, and provide a pastor who would be satisfactory to any discriminating American congregation. The curriculum would consist of four courses. Course 1: Creative Plagiarism. I would put you in touch with a wide range of excellent and inspirational talks, show you how to alter them just enough to obscure their origins, and ...

271. Two Jacks in One pulpit

Illustration

Source Unknown

An amusing news story from Wales told of a feud in a church looking for a new pastor. It read: "Yesterday the two opposition groups both sent ministers to the pulpit. Both spoke simultaneously, each trying to shout above the other. Both called for hymns, and the congregation sang two, each side trying to drown out the other. Then the groups began shouting at each other. Bibles were raised in anger. The Sunday morning service turned into a bedlam. Through it all, the two preachers continued trying to out- ...

272. O Give Thanks To God

Deuteronomy 26:1-15

Sermon

Rodney Thomas Smothe

On several occasions I have heard persons say, "God is good -- all the time!" I often wonder if they are responding to a single act of kindness of God or if they really do understand the faithful nature of the God we serve. Is our response to God usually only the result of something God has done for us or do we hold before us a constant reminder that God keeps his promises? In a society where we expect things to come so easily, we sometimes forget that God has a plan that connects us with his sovereign ...

273. Turning Jesus Down

John 4:5-42

Illustration

John N. Brittain

Many churches have been designed in response to consumer surveys. In several Midwestern suburban areas the surveys have had similar results. People want the church to provide a good community center with an excellent gym and Nautilus-caliber training equipment; they want quality affordable day care and after school care for children; they want a variety of self-help and support groups; and they want sermons dealing with timely issues like money management and enhancing self-esteem. What they do not want ...

274. Turning to God on Easter

Jn 20:1-18

Illustration

King Duncan

J. Wallace Hamilton, the great preacher of yesteryear, once told the story of a group of American soldiers stationed in London during the first World War. They had received orders that the next day they would be going to the front lines. The church where many of the men attended while away from home hastily gave them a dinner. It was a joyous time and the conversation was light and upbeat. Before the pastor gave the benediction, one of the soldiers was selected to share words of appreciation. He was a man ...

275. On Turning Ten

Luke 2:41-52

Illustration

Billy Collins

The whole idea of it makes me feel Like I 'm coming down with something, Something worse than any stomach ache, Or headaches I get from reading in bad light- A kind of measles of the spirit, A mumps of the psyche, A disfiguring chicken pox of the soul. You tell me it is too early to be looking back, But that is because you have forgotten The perfect simplicity of being one And the beautiful complexity introduced by two. But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit. At four I was an Arabian wizard. I ...

Showing results